Buy an 心印 calligraphy wall scroll here!
心印 is a Buddhist concept that simply stated is “appreciation of truth by meditation.”
It's a deep subject, but my understanding is that you can find truth through meditation, and once you've found the truth, you can learn to appreciate it more through further meditation. This title is not commonly used outside of the Buddhist community (your Asian friends may or may not understand it). The literal translation would be something like “the mind seal,” I've seen this term translated this way from Japanese Buddhist poetry. But apparently, the seal that is stamped deep in your mind is the truth. You just have to meditate to find it.
Soothill defines it this way: Mental impression, intuitive certainty; the mind is the Buddha-mind in all, which can seal or assure the truth; the term indicates the intuitive method of the Chan (Zen) school, which was independent of the spoken or written word.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 心印 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
心印 see styles |
xīn yìn xin1 yin4 hsin yin shinnin |
More info & calligraphy: Appreciation of Truth by Meditation |
佛心印 see styles |
fó xīn yìn fo2 xin1 yin4 fo hsin yin busshin in |
The seal of the Buddha heart or mind, the stamp of the universal Buddha-heart in every one; the seal on a Buddha's heart, or breast; the svastika. |
一切佛心印 see styles |
yī qiè fó xīn yìn yi1 qie4 fo2 xin1 yin4 i ch`ieh fo hsin yin i chieh fo hsin yin issai busshin'in |
trikona. The sign on a Buddha's breast, especially that on Vairocana's; the sign of the Buddha-mind; it is a triangle of flame pointing downwards to indicate power overall temptations; it is also 一切徧智印 the sign of omniscience. |
諸佛心印陀羅尼經 诸佛心印陀罗尼经 see styles |
zhū fó xīn yìn tuó luó ní jīng zhu1 fo2 xin1 yin4 tuo2 luo2 ni2 jing1 chu fo hsin yin t`o lo ni ching chu fo hsin yin to lo ni ching Shobutsu shinin darani kyō |
Zhufo xinyin tuoluoni jing |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Appreciation of Truth by Meditation | 心印 | shin nin / shinnin | xīn yìn / xin1 yin4 / xin yin / xinyin | hsin yin / hsinyin |
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All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.